Masa woke up, angry and frustrated. His plan would have worked if that jerk Kei hadn't skipped practice. He never skipped! Yet the one time he did and now they knew his identity too. He was sure the alien or whatever it was would be pissed. But honestly, why should he care?! Those things were probably not going to keep their word. No one ever cared about him. Why should he expect that to change now?

Mizuki was already fast asleep when his phone buzzed. He'd put it on his pillow right next to his head, hoping for a text from Kei. He'd fallen asleep before that text arrived, but his eyes popped open as soon as the alert noise played. Eagerly he opened it up, smiling at Kei's good night message. He wrote one back:

Good night, senpai. Chu~

He debated on deleting the cutsey ending, but his finger hit send before he'd made a decision. Embarrassed, he dove under the covers of his bed, covering up his head. He held his phone close, blushing as if Kei could see him.

"Good night... Kei," he dared to use his senpai's first name as he spoke softly to his phone, kissing the screen gently as he drifted back to sleep.

As soon as he heard the bell ring, Mizuki nearly jumped out of his skin. He'd already been up for several hours, nervously fidgeting with his appearance, trying to look perfect for the first time Kei would seen him out of school clothes... or his stupid ou outfit. He was excited to see Kei in casual clothes, too.

"Good luck, little brother!" His sister whispered, peeking out of her bedroom door, still in pajamas. Mizuki nodded to her, trying to put on a brave face.

He took a deep breath before opening the door. "G-g-good morning, senpai," he mumbled, blushing as he came face to face with his crush. "I'm ready to go."

Kei smiled at Mizuki and took in the sight of him. He wasn't sure if he should compliment his outfit or not since Mizuki wasn't a girl and he had no idea if it would be insulting to do so.

He didn't want to treat Mizuki like a girl. He smiled at Mizuki instead.

"Good morning, Mizuki. My brother actually recommend a place to me that you might like. Let's get going."

Kei walked beside Mizuki as they walked to the restaurant. He was nervous as he thought about holding mizuki's hand even though he had done so before. Those had been times when he had done it without thinking too much. Now it would be a conscious decision.

"H-h-hold hands?" Mizuki asked, pointedly staring at Kei's hand. He didn't answer the question; instead he bit his lip and gently took Kei's left hand in his right. His face burned like the sun. "L-l-like this?"

As they walked hand in hand, he felt the gem in his necklace pulse with a new energy. He wasn't sure what it was, but being close to Kei made him feel more powerful, like he could take on anything that came at him. He took a deep breath and decided to ask Kei. "When we hold hands, d-does your necklace feel different? Like... it has more energy? Or something?"

"Oh..." Mizuki stared at the ground, a small smile on his face. "I'm happy when I'm with you, too. That must be it." His heart was beating like crazy as they walked, so he grasped for something, anything else to talk about.

"So, uh... I haven't seen Moon around since yesterday... where do you think she ran off to? I was a little worried when I didn't find her on my doorstep last night." He looked up, realizing they'd stopped at a restaurant. "Oh, is this the place?"